Albedo Piazzolla
Albedo Piazzolla is one of the main antagonists of Xenosaga. He is U.R.T.V. Unit 667, and one of the only surviving U.R.T.V.s from the Miltian Conflict. He is the biological brother of Jr. Personality Albedo was a tragic, tortured, disturbed, and misunderstood soul who desired nothing apart from the empathy and love of his twin brother, Rubedo (Jr.). He clinged toward his brothers and had sensitive emotions. When Albedo learned of his inability to die, he changed. He realized that he would be left behind when his siblings passed away. Suicide was impossible for him because he would always be revived and forced to continue living, thus he was haunted by his immortality. Albedo began to fall apart mentally when he linked with U-DO, and upon doing so, went completely and utterly ballistic. He also began to question the point of life, the purpose of humanity, and adopt a nihilistic philosophy. He became egotistical and prone to hollow, hysterical laughter. Albedo believes that human civilization is pathetic and that culture is simply delusions and views it as a form of terror management theory as a distraction from death. He seems to enjoy pain, both inflicted on himself and others, such as dismembering his arm and decapitate his head, calling it "sweet" and says it makes him feel "alive". In Episode III, when Albedo is free of his attachment to life and comes back as a Testament, it is still obvious that he is far from sane. However, it is also noticeable that he is no longer suffering from it and that it is now very much under his control. Background Childhood at Yuriev Institute Albedo was created by Dmitri Yuriev at the Yuriev Institute as U.R.T.V. Unit 667, originally a conjoined twin with Unit 666, Rubedo. U.R.T.V. stands for U-DO Retro Virus, and are bio-engineered weapons designed to fight against U-DO, a mysterious wave existence. When Rubedo and Albedo were split, they both gained unique abilities, both rooting from the same concept. Rubedo gained the ability to control his body's aging, while Albedo could regenerate lost limbs, making him virtually immortal. Albedo was high-strung and fearful as a child. He clung to Rubedo for protection, and lashed out violently against anyone who attacked Rubedo, once even going so far as to injure and nearly kill a fellow U.R.T.V., Number 623. He did not show any remorse afterwards, indicating his developing sociopathy that would manifest in his later life. He also treated the other "normal" U.R.T.V.s as inferiors, and did not see them as actual people like the way he saw Rubedo and Nigredo. He was devastated when he learned that Rubedo and Nigredo were not immortal, Nigredo being as vulnerable to aging and injury as any normal human, and Rubedo, despite being capable of stopping his own aging, was still susceptible to death by injury. The thought of living forever, all alone, without Rubedo to protect him, made him extremely sad and scared. This caused him to become mentally unstable, and he made a new hobby out of digging practice graves for Rubedo and Nigredo, so as to not cry when they really died. In Xenosaga I&II, it was learned that the first time Albedo attempted to contact U-DO was during a training exercise inside Sakura Mizrahi's Encephalon. Sakura saved him by jumping in front of him, and she was killed when U-DO hit her. Although Albedo hated Sakura, he felt terrible guilt for her death because it hurt Rubedo. This would lead to his obsession with Kirschwassers and MOMO later on. Miltian Conflict Fourteen years ago, during the Miltian Conflict, the U.R.T.V.s were sent down to Miltia as part of the Third Descent. While there, however, Rubedo learned that if he used his Red Dragon power against U-DO, it would produce a thermal reaction capable of destroying the entire planet. Rubedo aborted the mission and cut off the mental link between him and the other U.R.T.V.s, fearing for their lives. This resulted in U-DO waves striking most of the U.R.T.V.s, causing them to be destroyed. Albedo also came into contact with U-DO at this time, which destroyed his mind, causing him to go insane. Crazed and delirious, as well as scarred, Albedo was saved by a Kirschwasser who took him on the Song of Nephilim, shortly after he turned on Rubedo and Nigredo at Labyrinthos. He was found once there by Sellers and his U-TIC personnel, who were preparing to abandon Miltia using the Song as a giant lifeboat. After that, he was taken in by the Ormus Society and placed under Margulis' jurisdiction most likely, but somehow came into contact with Wilhelm and Voyager, then later Kevin Winnicot, and at last Luis Virgil, since he seemed to know about the Testaments and their boss. He became a freelance U-TIC Agent while working for Wilhelm, with his own goal in mind, and was given one of its five A.M.W.S. craft, E.S. Simeon, as his own personal vehicle. Xenosaga Episode I Albedo is first seen during the destruction of the Woglinde and its fleet by the Gnosis, enjoying the death and destruction around him. He observes the destruction and rescues his Kirschwasser hiding in the Woglinde as depicted in Xenosaga I & II. Shortly after MOMO and Ziggy escape Pleroma, Albedo shows up with this Kirschwasser, and Margulis tells him he's too late to catch MOMO. He is later seen with his Kirschwasser, once again, on Pleroma, interrupting a conversation between Margulis and his soldiers. He tells Margulis that he's going to retrieve MOMO himself, stating he'd do a better job than Margulis' "dogs". He then boards his A.M.W.S., the E.S. Simeon, to leave Margulis, and calls for the first time MOMO "ma peche" as he leaves, he frequently refers to MOMO as "ma peche" throughout the game; this is French and translates to "my peach" since MOMO's name is peach in Japanese. He starts to slowly follows behind the Durandal, a ship owned by Jr.. Incidentally, MOMO will arrive on this very ship too. While following Jr.'s group, Albedo constantly kept in touch with Margulis, and was delighted when Margulis told him that, if the need arises, Albedo was allowed to summon the Song of Nephilim - a dangerous space station that could play a song that drives the listeners insane. This would distract the Kukai Foundation and Second Miltia long enough to help him catch MOMO. Additionally, Margulis' superiors would manipulate the Federation to both allow Albedo to summon the Song and cover up U-TIC's tracks. When Margulis' plans fail, Albedo immediately summons the Song, and leaves the station to kidnap MOMO at the Kukai Foundation. On the way, he flies through a battlefield, where Federation A.G.W.S. units are facing off against Gnosis. In his E.S. Simeon, he destroys many A.G.W.S.s as well as Gnosis, and continues toward the Kukai Foundation. Once there, he catches MOMO and brings her back to the Song of Nephilim. Once at the Song, Albedo intimidates MOMO, hoping for her to faint so he can easily get the Y-Data, a mysterious amount of data placed into MOMO's mind by Joachim Mizrahi, MOMO's creator. At the Song, he murders all of his Kirschwassers and tosses them in his chambers. MOMO finds him sitting comfortably on his "throne," cradling the body of a slain Kirschwasser in his hands, before he snaps one of its arms effortlessly and tosses it aside. To intimidate MOMO, he uses a small knife to saw off his own arm (edited from the North American version and made to look as if he rips it off), which he then regenerates. He then decapitates himself, lets his severed head taunt MOMO, and finally crushes his head underneath one foot before regenerating that too. Albedo is greatly amused by the fact that MOMO wants Jr., or Rubedo, to come and save her. Once MOMO lost consciousness, Albedo began to absorb her mind, learning every thought and memory that MOMO ever had. He continues to absorb her mind until he is interrupted by Jr. and his group. Once they show up, Albedo taunts them, and finally takes part of the Y-Data from MOMO, showing him that Shion Uzuki and KOS-MOS, two members of Jr.'s team, are somehow involved with it; at this moment it appears he gains knowledge of Shion's previous incarnation identity, as well as of KOS-MOS true identity. He climbs back into his E.S. Simeon and fights the group. This is a very difficult battle, because the E.S. Simeon is bigger and more advanced than the A.G.W.S. Units owned by Jr. and his group. Once they defeat Albedo, however, he gets out of the E.S. Simeon and shoots a blue aura at Jr., who retaliates with a red one. Their fight is interrupted by Luis Virgil, the Blue Testament. Virgil insists that Albedo get his job done, and stop playing around with Jr.'s group. Albedo leaves the Song of Nephilim in his E.S. Simeon while Virgil fights Jr.'s group. Once Jr. and MOMO's group escaped the Song of Nephilim and boarded the Durandal, they tried to destroy the Song, but were in shock when their blast deflected off of it. Albedo re-enters the scene in his E.S. Simeon, and summons Proto Merkabah, a large space station that was once home to Joachim Mizrahi and MOMO, using the knowledge he had gained from MOMO's memories. The Song of Nephilim enters a port of Proto Merkabah to help power it, and several Gnosis are absorbed to use an energy source. He uses this station to blow up the entire Galaxy Federation fleet of ships. He sets his next target to nearby planet Second Miltia. However, Jr. tells him to wait before he blows up Second Miltia, so that he can get to Albedo and finish the conflict once and for all. Jr. and his group board Proto Merkabah and reach Albedo in the core room, and he shows the group his will, a shining power that exists within everyone. His, however, was very bright and large. Albedo reminds Jr. of what he did to his comrades during the conflict when he 'broke the link', showing a brief scene of Jr. holding his head with an aura around him that sends the standard URTV units flying. This differs from the events stated in Episode II but it was most likely due to the change in story writer. He fights Jr. and the others personally, but he is defeated after a long and difficult battle. He reveals to the group his motive: To make Jr. pay for abandoning him and the other U.R.T.V.s fourteen years ago. He then reveals Sophie Peithos, a fusion of Proto Merkabah's core and the Gnosis absorbed by the space station. Albedo leaves Jr. to fight this massive beast, and returns to his E.S. Simeon in space. He watches from afar as the space colony plunges toward Second Miltia on a crash course, due to Sophie Peithos' defeat. He watches as the group escapes on the Elsa, and Proto Merkabah self-destructs. Xenosaga Episode II Although there is a sense of completion at the end of Episode I, Albedo's summoning of Proto Merkabah was to distract the galaxy from the true intentions of Ormus, the organization seemingly behind the plans of U-TIC, and test the power of Shion, Jr., and friends, though details behind these motives are not given directly. However, Albedo is clearly thinking that he is acting on his own terms, which results in the Proto Merkabah incident. Virgil is insenced at Albedo's summoning of "needless toys," however the Red Testament, Kevin Winnicot, tells him to let Albedo be for now. This is most likely so Wilhelm, the leader of the Testaments, the CEO of Vector Industries, and ex-Executive Committee Director, can gauge Albedo's power and decide exactly what he wants to do with him in the time to come. Albedo is still in the E.S. Simeon the next time he's seen, as Gaignun Kukai contacts him telepathically to find out what he's up to. Albedo taunts Gaignun, who gets angry and causes Albedo's arm to explode. Albedo regenerates it and cuts off the mental link between Gaignun and himself. Later on, on Second Miltia, MOMO undergoes maintenance by Juli Mizrahi. However, the process is interrupted when Albedo hacks into her mind and attempts to get the rest of the Y-Data. MOMO, however, starts to delete her memory to save everyone. The group dives into MOMO's mind using the Encephalon, and there they see a long series of Jr.'s flashbacks, because Jr. was the person closest to MOMO, and because Albedo was now a part of MOMO, a result of his absorbing her thoughts in Episode I. Through the flashbacks, Albedo's full past is revealed. It is shown that Albedo was once very timid and weak, until U-DO had corrupted him. The signs of natural mental instability were also visible in young Albedo as well. While Jr.'s group views these flashbacks in MOMO's Encephalon, the recent, true Albedo emerges and fights Jr. Once Jr. manages to defeat him once more, MOMO appears in her own mind and demands everyone stop fighting. Albedo takes this chance to shoot a large beam at her, gathering even more of the Y-Data from her. He leaves the virtual world of the Encephalon and reawakens in the E.S. Simeon. With more of the Y-Data, Albedo and the E.S. Simeon begin to glow, and they disappear from space. Jr., back on Second Miltia, states he can feel Albedo's heartbeat fading. This action led to the opening of the path that led to Old Miltia, the planet that Joachim Mizrahi had sent to the Abyss during the Miltian Conflict. Since Albedo cannot die, he survives as nothing more than a few particles, floating around in space. Much later, Albedo returns by using his regenerative powers to bring all of his particles back together in the Ω System, a huge space fortress that was home to Ormus, along with the Original Zohar (the ultimate energy source) and Proto Ω, a large superweapon. Ormus' Patriarch Sergius XVII meets up with Jr.'s group here, hoping to use Proto Ω, the Zohar inside of it, to destroy them along with whoever else stands in his way. Albedo appears at the scene, telling the Patriarch that the power of the Zohar belonged to him, and that the Patriarch had no need for it. The Patriarch, unwilling to relinquish the Zohar, simply dismisses Albedo as "Yuriev's ghost" and regards him as a "lower lifeform." Albedo attempts to attack the Patriarch and Proto Ω, but is disintegrated by the superweapon's beam attack and reduced once again to particles. When Jr.'s group defeats the Patriarch, however, Albedo is brought back by the Testaments Kevin, Virgil, and Black Testament Voyager, who speed up the process of Albedo's regenerative powers. Albedo immediately absorbs more U-DO waves from the Zohar and transforms the entire Ω System into a Space-Time Anomaly. Jr. enters this anomaly, hoping to put a stop to Albedo's madness. Albedo manipulates the anomaly to taunt Jr., showing him revised memories to make Jr. hate him. Albedo constantly dared Jr. to kill him, almost as if he wanted to die. He claimed that Jr. was the only one who could kill him. Despite Sakura's sacrificing herself to save him, Albedo told Jr. that he killed Sakura, hoping he would become angry enough to kill him, but his false claim was dismissed. ]] Jr. finally reaches Albedo and enters Red Dragon Mode, a powerful ability that only Jr. possesses. Albedo tells Jr. of his plans, to shove the entire universe into a higher-order domain, where everyone will be fused into one perfect existence. Albedo provokes Jr. into a fight, during which Albedo taunts Jr. mercilessly in an effort to get Jr. to land a killing blow. Jr. happily obliges and defeats his brother. As the Space-Time Anomaly crumbles, Albedo warns Jr. to beware Gaignun's shadow. Although Albedo, fused with U-DO, could have simply annihilated himself, he specifically chose Jr. to use the Red Dragon Mode to destroy him. Winged Kirschwassers arrive and take the now deceased Albedo away. (Note: Although Albedo is an Anti Existence of U-DO, seeming to be possible that he could have obliterated himself, he claimed that he lost his body merging with U-DO, but felt much better. Since he lost his body it could be considered that in fact Albedo lacked the power to obliterate himself and needed Jr.'s power to kill him.) Later on, Wilhelm has a meeting with his three Testaments. During this meeting, Albedo arrives, now as the White Testament. He also possesses a redesigned E.S. Simeon. Wilhelm formally introduces the new White Testament as the "Weaver of the eternal circle of Zarathustra." Becoming a Testament appears to have healed Albedo's insanity to some degree. Xenosaga Episode III A year after he became a Testament, the four Testaments stand in a cave on a floating island in space known as Rennes-le-Château, near the tomb of Mary Magdalene. Voyager and Albedo stand in silence as Virgil mocks Kevin, and his infatuation with Shion. Albedo shows up again in Rennes-le-Chateau's cave, interrupting an argument between Virgil and Shion. Albedo takes an Anima Relic, an E.S. power core, out of Virgil's defeated E.S. Naphtali. Jr. instantly recognizes the White Testament's voice as Albedo's, and calls out to him desperately. Albedo pays no attention to Jr.'s pleading cries, as he and Virgil retreat on the E.S. Simeon. Back in Wilhelm's office, Wilhelm and Kevin discuss Yuriev, who is on Abel's Ark (A massive Gnosis that appeared shortly after Albedo's death one year ago) and powering Ω to ascend to the realm of U-DO, so he can defeat it and become a god. Kevin asks if he should send Albedo to retrieve Abel, a boy with impressive powers and piloting skill, and the Zohar, which are both in Ω. Wilhelm responds, "He wants to go, doesn't he? It's what he's always desired." Under orders from Wilhelm and Kevin, Albedo makes his final appearance on Abel's Ark. After Jr.'s group defeats Yuriev and Ω Metempsychosis (The final form of Ω), Albedo appears and unmasks himself, revealing his identity to Jr. He takes the Zohar and Abel out of Ω and teleports them to Zarathustra on planet Michtam, where Wilhelm is waiting for them. Noting that Yuriev, who was the only survivor of the original human link experiments to U-DO, still has portions of U-DO inside of him, Albedo instructs Jr. to start a mental link with him to destroy Yuriev. Jr. refuses to do so, knowing that Gaignun's consciousness is inside Yuriev. Albedo plans to have Gaignun's consciousness transfer into Jr.'s body, and help Jr. and Albedo destroy Yuriev. However, Gaignun's consciousness instead enters Albedo's body, and pushes Albedo's consciousness out of his own body and into Jr.'s, believing that's what Albedo truly wanted. Gaignun, now in Albedo's body, reveals that he was created to monitor and destroy both Jr. (the "Red Dragon") and Albedo. Since he does not want to kill them, he feels he has no reason to exist. Gaignun sacrifices himself—and Albedo's body—to destroy Yuriev. After that, Albedo's consciousness speaks to Jr.'s, and the two come to terms with each other as Albedo fades away into Jr.'s consciousness, once again becoming one with him. Albedo says he will go to "sleep", but promises to return eventually with the hope that he, Jr., and Gaignun will some day be able to be together again like when they were children. His final words as he goes into slumber tell Jr. that Abel and the Zohar are on Michtam. After all was said and done, Wilhelm and Kevin are presented with another Anima Relic, presumably Albedo's restored E.S. Simeon, and Wilhelm states "Now his wish has come true." This shows that Wilhelm was aware of Albedo's fate, and that what happened in the end is what Albedo really wanted. Before Jr. goes with the others to Lost Jerusalem, MOMO asks Jr. to tell Albedo that she says hello. Jr. promises that he'll deliver the message when he wakes up, but admits that Albedo is kinda lazy, so he won't know when that will be. MOMO just laughs in response to this with a smile. Etymology Albedo was named in reference to his milky-white hair. In Psychology and Alchemy (1944), Carl Jung refers to Albedo, or "whitening", as one of the stages of the process of human individuation as symbolized in alchemic terms. Jung also described Rubedo and Nigredo as parts of this process. An additional and more prevalent use of the term is seen in science, where the albedo of a body or surface is a measure of its reflectivity. However, his last name has two different translations. In Xenosaga Episode I, his name is seen as "Albedo Piasora." In Xenosaga Episode II he is listed as "Albedo Piazzolla." Therefore, either name can be used to describe him. His surname is presumably a reference to Astor Piazzolla, an Argentinian composer whose surname is also best approximated as "Piasora" in Japanese. Quotes *''"Graves for Rubedo and Nigredo... It's just for pretend, though... I'm practicing, so that when they die, I won't cry. If I link with U-DO again... I wonder if he'll kill me. Oh, I hope he will. He is our leader, after all."'' *''"Rubedo! Don't let go! ...DON'T LET GO!"'' * "Mirror mirror on the wall, show me, define me! I am the infinite telomerase! I am not an anti-existence! I am the perfect chain!" *''"You just love barking out those orders, don't you, Margulis? Show a little love to your dogs, or else they might bite you one day."'' * "Such tears. What beauty they hold, these tears of sorrow. Surely they are the most precious substance in the world. But, are you worthy to shed such tears? The act of mourning the dead belongs to the realm of humans... Ah my beautiful little Kirschwasser. But still. Can you really call this a corpse? Frailty, thy name is woman. No, that's not right. You little Realians weren't even born from a woman's womb. The human race, fearful in its weakness, built this world in a futile attempt to elude the abyss they call mortality. Culture, civilization, all delusions created by a powerless race, and of little use, like a barren woman. But amidst all this, you continue to exist as an unfettered soul, free from the shackles of flesh and blood. A completely pure consciousness. An eternal spiral, undefiled by impurities. A fusion of fire, breath, and spirit. What can we call you... but angels? New, unadulterated psyches. But what you lack is reality. And that is what I shall provide you with! Do you know what he said while he coughed up his lifeblood? "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." Wheat, eh? There's enough of it, we can afford to waste as much as we want. Like my head, you see?" * "Free from the bonds of flesh, a pure consciousness has no true form. All that exists…is the longing for reality." * "What pain, so sweet, so alive! Pain is such a vital part of realizing one's existence!" * "Desecrate? Your sisters? Look around you! Who's the flower that blooms from those corpses? That's right, it's you peche. Everything's just as Mizrahi, your dear daddy, wanted them to be!" * "Don't be so surprised; this is the power of will, a fundamental power that exists within everyone. What you are witnessing is simply your perception of it. And you know what? Perception and pain are but one and the same. So... go ahead... Feel my pain for yourself!" *''"Of course you would. That's how you're built. Because we are the anti-existence of U-DO. Do you know what the link is like? ...It's as sweet and seductive as a deal with the devil!"'' *''"You could say this is a release. At least... I won't have to fear losing anyone anymore."'' *''"You pissed me off until the very end, Nigredo."'' Trivia * In Episode I, in the Japanese version, his emblem has an X symbol. In the North American version, it was changed to a ^ symbol and has remained since. Gallery Albedo.jpg|Concept art. Screenshot from 2013-08-23 15-09-41.png|Albedo enjoying breaking a Kirschwasser's arm. AlbedoK.png|Albedo with his Kirschwassers. Al0.png|Albedo menacing MOMO. Al1.png|Albedo's creepy stare. Piazzolla, Albedo Category:Antagonists Category:U.R.T.V. units Category:Testaments Category:Male characters